Mathematics Identity of Prospective Mathematics Teachers: Content Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Questions

Abstract

Many problems faced by mathematics learners both at the school and college levels have occurred so far. Mathematics education students involved in mathematics daily also face various problems, be it problems related to cognitive and affective abilities. Problems such as the emergence of mathematical anxiety, negative self-perception of mathematics, lack of mathematical competence, and many other problems have become the recent focus in mathematics education research. So, how do mathematics education students, especially prospective mathematics teachers, view themselves as related to mathematics? What is their mathematical identity? This study aims to determine the mathematics identity possessed by prospective mathematics teachers. To find out the mathematics identity of prospective mathematics teachers, a descriptive design utilizing a survey with five open-ended questions was asked. Demographic data were analyzed using descriptive frequencies, while the five open-ended questions were analyzed using summative content analysis to analyze free-text responses from 225 prospective mathematics teachers. Free-text responses contain answers to five questions in each component of the mathematical identity obtained from disseminating questions through google forms. We obtained the results that prospective mathematics teachers generally have a positive mathematical identity, but some components need improvement. However, it was also found that the results were quite surprising concerning the mathematical identity of the prospective mathematics teacher. A complete explanation will be discussed in this article.